Tips For Buying A Used Or Second-hand Road Bike
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- Опубліковано 15 чер 2024
- Buying a second hand or used road bike can be a great way to save loads of cash and get a great deal. Ollie give his buyers guide and insights that you should look out for when on the hunt for your next cycling treasure.
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Did you buy new or second hand?
I bought a used Raleigh Renivo 1.0 for about 300CAD, been a great starter bike!
Both my and my wife's favorite road bikes were purchased used several years ago. Both have top-of-the-line composite carbon frames and forks. Both were purchased in the U.S. via eBay. The sellers were highly rated, provided many excellent photos, and eBay provided a 100% money-back guarantee if the bikes did not live up to the seller's description. Both sellers lived far away from us and they had to ship the bikes to us. I was able to purchase my bike for about 1/4 of its original price and my wife's bike for 1/3 its original price. This enabled us to buy much higher quality than we otherwise could have afforded.
IMPORTANT: You must know what size and geometry you need and you must be familiar with the sizing of the bike manufacturer in order to purchase via eBay like we did, since you are unable to ride or test the bike before the sale. It also helps if you are very familiar with the kind of bike you plan to purchase. And you need to have patience. Each of our bikes were purchased after a minimum of 6 months searching. I would configure and "save" a search on eBay and it would automatically email me when a bike matching my criteria would appear for sale. Sometimes, you need to be able to respond quickly because the best deals don't last long -- especially if they are offered as a "buy-it-now" sale. However, if they are offered as pure auctions, you usually have a little more time. Both our bikes were purchased as auctions. There are skills for winning auctions -- but that goes beyond the scope of this subject.
I bought my felt b16 carbon tt bike 3 years ago off eBay for $480
yeah. I got a kestrel rt1000 sl 2013 with di2. whoever bought this bike originally must've had it laying around
Building a "new" bike of a 2nd hand Haibike frame..... gonna be a propper super bike for less then 1500 usd :D
And as to bar tape....not a good indicator. My current bike has done well over 10k km. and you can hardly see any ware over 4 years.
A few tips about your psychology:
- The further you travel to go look at the bike the more likely you are to buy it because you already invested a lot of time. So always be prepared to leave if there is any doubt. Chances are you'll find a better deal closer to you in a few weeks.
- If you already bring a lot of cash to the deal you may be more likely to spend it. I only go to withdraw money on the test ride if possible and I only withdraw as much as I am willing to spend.
- Talk to the seller about what you're looking at on the bike. Talk about what it would cost to fix. Listen to their response. Are they nervous? Are they defensive?
- Never rush. It takes time to look at a bike. Take as much time as you need. Be aware of situations where other buyers can pressure you into a decision such as auctions or flea markets.
- If you're responding to an online ad that has been posted for weeks and the bike is still available, the price is too high. Use this to negotiate.
Bonus tip:
- Always write a bill of sale with your names, date, location, price, description of the bike as well as frame number.
although, if you have to travel far simply because the seller is in the middle of nowhere, you might getting (or able to get) a good deal as most people would be too lazy to travel far for a bike.
Hal Incandenza top tips!
Buy the hot deals..
thank you
Add a distinctive sticker inside the BB shell of head tube as soon as possible. If you're in the receiving end of a theft, you can more easily prove the bike is yours. Trust me, no run of the mill thief is going to make sure the BB is free from neon rainbow unicorn stickers.
Well, this happens quite often, middle-aged man with alot of money to spare wants to get in shape, so he buys a good bike because everybody else at the office got it. He tries it for a few Miles, feels it's not for him and sells the bike 75% off because he doesn't want to be reminded of the humiliation.
hasábburgonya That’s the bike I want. Few years ago got a 2017 Super Six Evo at the end of a season saving 25% which was a great saving (and a safe buy) but a low mileage high-end bike with 50% off would be a steal.
@@sjlacey65 I ride a cervelo r3 for 33% of the price.
However, when it comes to cannondale, I am constantly on the watch for a Caadx since I want to take my riding to ruff weathers and winter which I am never going to expose the R3 to.
Should really encourage that old man with a lot of money to get a bike fit first then give the hobby a second try.
Dik magyar vagy
@@hashaborgonja how much would u say a caadx should be worth on the marketplace
Four critical areas I always look at for "real" condition usage that the owner cannot hide:
1-The previous owner's weight. It's not offensive, it's just science...the bike ridden by a 145lbs person is going to see less stress than the guy who weighs 225lbs.
2-The STI levers. If the bike has been crashed, you'll see cosmetic signs on the blades. If the bike was neglected and laid onto concrete or against a wall, you'll see cosmetic damage. More advanced technique: Shifters also get sloppy over time and with use, so feeling how they shift and feel in your hands in reference to a new pair can be useful; specifically the brake lever bushing.
3-Chainrings. They're expensive, so people won't bother replacing chainrings like they will a cassette or chain, and the chainrings will provide more realistic insight at drivetrain wear. Chainrings with minimal wear either say the bike hasn't been ridden much, or the owner has spent the money to take care of the bike properly. People often overlook jockey wheels too.
4-Braking surface of the rims. People can put new pads on, true wheels, clean them, but they cannot add new material back to the braking surface. Understanding how crisp the machining is on a new aluminum rim or abrasive the surface is on new carbon rims can help beyond any wear indicators that may be there.
Things I don't pay much attention to:
1-Bartape...a brand new bike with less than 500 miles can still have filthy tape if the owner always has greasey and dirty hands.
2-Same as the first...cheap tires can wear with less than 1,500 miles, especially heavier riders. If you know they're OEM, then it's likely they were never replaced. It's also impossible to know if the owner didn't ride a second wheelset instead and kept the original set pristine.
3-Seat; unless you know for certain the saddle is OEM to the bike, people swap seats all the time, so it's impossible to reference it to the life of the bike (good or bad).
Yeah this is more realistic.
Much of what was said in the video just filled imho.
A great starter video for some young person getting into cycling thanks Ollie.
No Worries, glad you appreciated it
woah thats me, but mountain biking
Have a crappy bike used for the demo that has bad bearings, bottom bracket, bad rear hub so we can see it for ourselves and better know what to look out for.
You forgot to kick the tyres and suck air through your teeth while shaking your head.... that always works for people buying second hand cars.
some dickhead put up a pictch
Darn tyre kickers
HAH oh you know it's not gonna be an Ollie B video without some props and shenanigans inside the first 30 friggin' seconds. Legend.
Can confirm, I already bought 2 Pinarello Dogmas from Nigerian prince that quit cycling, great deal! He has a few more, PM me if you want to buy as well!
Ok, I will buy one of Si’s used bikes as we ride the same size. It will need to be a good deal though, as the drive train likely will need replaced do to the use of WD40.
Great video! Thank you GCN...this will help me in my first RB purchase soon👌
Thank you for making this video. Extremely informative .
Well this was one sorely needed 13 minute tutorial. Thank you. And great job.
A thorough overview of what to look for in a used bike. Thank you so much.
Great video! Ollie is a brilliant presenter
Well done Ollie, very useful information.
Well, this video, by far and wide, is the best collection of hints and tips about the subject. I thought I could give good advice but men I was wrong! Excellent job, folks.
Probably the most helpful GCN video I've seen.
I only found this now 4 years late but its still relevant to day its so comprehensive thank you Ollie a great video
It is all crazy good, all the deals on new and used bikes and frames and components--it is truly a buyer's market, as you said, Ollie. And my two most recent bike purchases were used at a local bike shop, and that works for me and the shop--I get good deals and the shop gets my business as I wear out chains and components through commuting. And I do some of my own work and upkeep, but I like just taking it in and having it worked on by a pro.
Trying to sell a bike that was new and ridden once so this was informative. Also now know what to look for to rebuild and repair my brothers old mountain bike I ride.
Thanks Ollie! On my way to get a secondhand bike now. This vid was useful!
Great video!! I am new to the bike world and I am learning a lot wit you guys! Fantastic!
Cheers Matheus and welcome!
This is very helpful! Thanks! Awesome content.
This is really in depth. Nice. One more tip: Check that the threaded inserts for the bottle holders aren't loose.
nice video, i am quite experienced with bikes and i thought i knew it all but there were a couple of things i didnt knew
I skipped this whole process. I went on eBay.
found the prettiest, lightest thing in my budget. I then lowballed my offer. It was sold to someone else.
Repeated this process a couple times until finally, I landed a nice one😁
No guts no glory.
Couldn't agree more ✌️👍
You are like the PUA of pre-owned bikes who go out in the field to deliberately get rejected. The one with most rejections wins.
how much low would you call lowballing
Great video. Nice common sense approach to scoping out a second hand bike. There are lots of gems out there and the best ones sometimes end up being purchased from people that made a new years resolution that didn't pan our or happened to be be sold the wrong frame size or bike type for their riding style. It is important to understand your fit to determine if a frame size is adequate and this can be very confusing when comparing different frame types. The traditional race bike compared to a modern compact geometry is quite different hand difficult to measure at first glance. It is really good to know the reach and stack height that works for you and then look this up for the bike which you are interested in. Using the same frame size in cm can be misleading.
Great video thanks!
Another tip for alloy/steel bikes would be to visually check if the fork is perfectly aligned with the steering tube of the frame (front wheel shouldn't overlap with your feet when steering and cranks are horizontal). Then swipe a finger along the upper part of the downtube. If you feel anything like a dent or even slightest deformation, it could mean that the fork has been pushed backwards, and the frame itself is no longer safe (this can also happen if the fork looks perfectly ok - personal experience)
Just what I needed as I’m thinking of potential second hand bike 👍🏼
Lots of good tips. I will make sure I don´t miss a thing in case I finally go for a second hand bike. Still struggling either get a new entry level or a better one but second hand.
I like it Ollie...you did actually touch on most of the tail tail signs......good man
i replaced the wheel rim and hub bearings so to recycle the hub,. axle,. leaver,. and spokes. its an rewarding job that if you photo the spokes patten... gave me the confidence to build my own hard tail e bike.. still in pro'
Great info/video! Thanks (Just bought a used one, through a dealer)
Loving the Defender in the background! :)
Very useful information brother
On the US west coast, it can be hard to find deals on modern disc brake bikes. That’s a bummer for off-road buyers, but not for road riders who are comfortable with rim brakes. Go for carbon 2x10 bikes and it’s not hard to find amazing deals.
My son and I both found top-notch carbon 2x10 bikes for low prices and in great condition. In both cases, we can trace the bikes to their original owners, who are enthusiasts and kept the bikes humming. My son’s bike has SRAM Red with Dura-Ace wheels. Mine is Dura-Ace head to toe and weighs 15 lbs with cages and pedals in a size large. I don’t notice one less cassette ring, but I do notice that 10-speed spacing is easier to adjust and maintain than my newer 11-speed 5800 105 bike.
It’s harder to find best-of-breed bikes that are newer, especially with discs, but you might get lucky and find a deal in your size. If you don’t mind a 2010-ish 10-speed bike, it really opens up your options for amazing gear on a budget.
GREAT TIPS! thank you!
Ultra useful, Recently got a cheap bike, to be used to get the hold of it again and to do progressive upgrades, all this advices are perfect and help, now I ride a perfectly cheap and useful bike that works as a charm! 50 bucks! So if I screw anything it doesn't gets painful.
Excellent! Thank you.
That Nigerian prince died? I just gave him some cash.
Amazing video. Very comprehensive.
Kudos Ollie and team.
Bought a 2012 Trek Domane 5.9 with DI2 Ultegra Electronic shifters for $1200 and have been pretty happy with it. Only upgrade/replacing I can think of is a new chain ring and maybe thicker tires.
This video came out right after I bought my new Trek. I was considering a used bike.
Most of my bikes are second hand purchased from E-Bay, but I have been fortunate, they were pristine purchased by people who just never got into cycling like they wanted to. The best aluminum bike I got was a Specialized Allez which is super light and can fly uphill. My first carbon fiber bicycle is a 2007 Trek Madone.
12:16 Loving the King of Mountain race jersey style socks.
Like the way Ollie tested the bearings on those Zipp wheels, I had a brand new set of 404 Firecrests with 'play' and was told that it's engineered play... Hmmmm???
In 2014 I had bought my first own road bike, a Stevens San Remo from 2009 with a Tiagra 9-speed for only 220 EUR incl. Saddlebag. The only problem was the tires, with cutouts and after half a year the rear wheel hub broke completely. Since then I have paid 110 EUR for used rims, 220 EUR for new chainrings, sprocket, chain and tires.
But the GCN's Cheap Bike motivated me to upgrade my old Stevens with a Vision Team 30 wheelset and a fi'zi:k Arione saddle. The groupset I'm still a bit uncertain, a 105 would probably be overkill, because then I can also buy a new road bike directly.
Check online that you can still buy a mech hanger if the seller doesn't have a spare. If that goes on a pothole, your bike will be out of action till you can source one. For an older or discontinued bike, It may have to come from overseas and take weeks. My latest bike was second hand and was a real bargain, but it came with a broken cable guide under the BB. Its just the $3 blue plastic Shimano one.After about 2000km of riding with poor front shifting and lots of time wasted on front mech adjustments, I finally noticed what the problem was. The cable was sliding around all over the BB. I'd even put the bike in a pro shop and he hadn't noticed. I still recommend buying second hand, but be aware that unforeseen niggles can happen. Ultimately doing is how you learn to fix a bike.
Well Done, Ollie! Solid tips for looking at a used bike! I especially liked the first tip, “Why are you selling your bike?” I also liked the tips you gave to see if the frame is intact since no one wants to buy a comprised frame, especially if the frame is carbon & has been crashed! Well Done! Cheers, Ollie! 👏🏽👏🏽🥂🚴🏽🚴🏻♀️
Great quality, cheers
Daym i needed that video 1 month ago!
I bought a Rockrider 560 2015 for 180e, tires are still good and never been changed
Seriously helpful.
Very nice, love it.
Amazing video I am looking for something to ride around UBC with a friend, nothing crazy.
I'm on my third bike and built it up piece by piece. First bike was a low end aluminum Trek. Second bike was a used car carbon Fuji from a friend that realized it wasn't for him. This time I knew what I wanted. A lot of completes had components that I knew I'd replace or have issues with anyway.
Low balled a guy on Ebay for a supersix evo high mod frameset for just over a grand and the rest was history. I was recovering from knee surgery so I had time to wait for deals to pop up. All said and done I maybe paid a few hundred over the complete I was looking at. Only thing I had to change after a fit was the bars.
Plus, there's something to be said about riding a bike that you chose every component on it.
Cracked head tube! Happened to my friend's Bianchi and my Orbea! (Both makers replaced the frames free, but it cost me a new fork cause the steer tube went from 1 inch to 1 1/8.
Great advice
My first road bike was a 6 year old Bianchi with a mix of Campa group set from an enthusiast. If it breaks horribly within the next 6 years it's more probably my fault rather than the seller 😅
Honestly I don’t really buy used and if I do I know what to look for but I just love watching these videos 😂😂
I just picked up my first road bike last week! It was a used Softride Roadwing in perfect shape. Even came with an extra set of new Mavic wheels and tires and a Chris King no threadset. All for $400 US and I look like I'm from the future!
You're just a fell step away from going recumbents...
@@georgehugh3455 LOL I think I was just another deployment away from a recumbent. I need all the support I can get without looking like a complete dork.
Well, that's knocked £££s off my bike. Great video thanks.
Ray Barber lol how?
@@Doonie310 Apparently, being in a million pieces is bad.
@@Doonie310 He was over-charging.
Great video!! Excellent job, thanks Ollie. GCN 👍😉.
Cheers Sergio, hope it helps!
Along the years i have bough around 8 bikes all used, cause i could never afford a brand new one, my observations are as follows:
-most will have worn out tires and transmissions.
-check the size and fit for comfort.
-there is 1/10 chances the bike was stolen at some point, exception when they have the original receipt.
- keep 1/5 of what you pay for the bike for mainentance. Most likely you will need to fit a new cassette and chain.
-mountain bikes are a lot more problematic than road bikes, check the suspension and hidraulic brakes, and any cracks. There are ocassions where the rear wheel will have to be rebuilt because of a damaged rim or spokes who start going out one by one.
-Vintage bikes with 2x7/ 3x7 and cantilever/v brakes tend to have less problems than modern bikes, even if they have issues they are cheap and easy to fix.
-modern brifters on road bikes are very expensive to replace if they have issues.
-avoid used carbon frames and parts, cracks are hard to notice but they can have costly consequences, not worth the trouble really unless you get them for peanuts.
Thansk for the info...
very helpful!
Thank you Sir
Bought my bike sight unseen off eBay 😂. Lucky for me it’s perfect
Phew!
i mean i’m getting a $800 Colorado comp 27.5+ for 250 and i went off if it had stock parts that weren’t in bad shape it was a good buy
A month ago i got a ‘80 retro road bike with Suntour mech, and cro-mo tange triple buted tubing frame in good condition for 15€
Nice
Its a relief to see If cumberbatch leaves the show there’s a ready made replacement, elementary.
Hahahhahaha 🕵️
What can I say...thanks, for a very helpfull and practical video!
Stripped bolts and worn jockey wheels are other things to look out for when you're looking for a discount
Thank you for all the information that we need, there's a lot of 2nd Hand bikes on FB are really tempting to buy..
Sadly there ain't much fits my size..
Detective Oillie 😂
Fury L1_NeVeRz
I need at least 61cm frame, buy them on eBay, not a lot of riders my size, I use that for negotiatung. It get them 6mos to a year old for a fraction of what they sell for new. Only had one that looked like it was cracking, sent it back got my money back.
@@happydays8171 same here,not many 61 but a lot of 56,58
I had bought two bikes at pawn shops. Five years ago I found a 2014 Raleigh road bike and this past week, I picked up a 2019 trek FX 3. I spent under $300 apiece for both.
You can get the FX3 new for £450 here in the UK as it doesn't even have disk brakes.
Very useful.
I bought second hand then slowly upgraded components. Just bought another used bike that was a 'mechanic special' for the carbon frame and put all my components onto it. Going to sell the left over components for about what I paid for the whole bike : )
I keep saying you should do a video on the the performance and value difference of buying a top-end bike that's a few years old vs. a brand new one of the same money; i.e. are you better off getting a brand new Canyon CF SL with brand new Ultegra, for example, than a 3 year old SLX with 3 year old Dura Ace? I've bought all my bikes second-hand from a specialist dealer, the last was daylight robbery at £2,300, and I'm convinced it's a way better deal than a brand new bike of any brand for the same money.
Used - got an immaculate 2 year old bike for about 50% of new price - admit it was a bit of a punt but turned out well in the end
If I translated those instructions into an algorithm, it would be a pretty complicated one.
After watching this video my main takeaway is that it is rather hard to buy a used bike for a good price and not be somehow fooled. As someone looking to get into cycling, I now feel very discouraged to buy a used bike, unless I get some expert to do it for me.
Well, technically, I could do it myself, but I would need to transform this video into handy notes, which would take a decent amount of work, and then take these notes with me and follow them in front of the seller.. Unfortunately, I believe most sellers wouldn't be kind enough to put up with me carefully checking all these things and looking into notes. People are generally impatient. And a seller would want to keep the flaws of their bike hidden and rush you into buying it.
I feel like, screw that. I'll just buy a new bike!
My first carbon race bike was a shop demo bike I bought from my mates bike shop. My commuter bike I bought sight unseen via Facebook and It was one of those bike bought with good intention but never ridden it was a bargain for $100
I like to buy all kinds of second-hand road bikes! Experience a variety of bikes! it's so cool!
I also like to buy.pl.convey me source on my email shafiqsangeen61@gmail.com
This video and the comment section will help me a lot before buying my road bike
This video was great but i gave it a like purely for the Craig David reference! Excellent work there
Buying a used bike can be frustrating. I believe the size of the bike to be an important piece of info that should be put in the description. I get all interested only to find out after calling that it’s for a short person. Just like I see a lot of sellers attempting to sell their old shoes/sneakers with no size in the description. A pet peeve of mine is looking at the attached pictures of dirty bikes. If you are too lazy to at least wipe it down for the picture, then you know there was no care and probably not maintained as it should.
Kudos on the Sherlock outfit!
For play on bearings it would be clearer to demonstrate on a bike that has this problem. And if you're new to cycling: ask a veteran and preferrably a tech geek to come along. They can scrutineer the bike probably with more experience and / or expertise - and help to get the price down if necessary, with an amount that accounts necessary replacements. Tires and brakepads for instance can mean a hefty sum to spend extra...
Well done.
just a couple more tips:
1- go during the day when there's daylight to see bike/frame better (it's tempting to go in the dark evenings especially during winter months)
2- take a pair of rubber gloves so you're not afraid/disgusted to touch any dirty parts of the bike
3- try to take a friend with you (especially if they're bike-savvy). It's much easier to spot things with an extra pair of eyes... also easier to ask "silly" and "obvious" questions you may otherwise shy away from
1. small torch is useful to examine frame for paint defects and cracks, it brings out details I could miss relying on sunlight
3. that's slippery route - if one ends up with a bike having hidden defect missed by friend or beautiful bike of wrong size, friend will take all blame.
Can't believe my good luck... finding this video from (the two of) you! I'm starting to shop for a good used road bike.... your advice is priceless! Where do I send brownies for you?? (I'm serious.)
As a newb, this is such a varying checklist that it becomes overwhelming to consider trying to tick off all these boxes whilst in the middle of a deal. I would feel uncomfortable doing this -- when in reality I have little to know idea what are those key signs if i came across them. great video nonetheless but for myself, I feel i rather get a new bike on a discount and peace of mind as opposed to a used bike, then having to maintenance it and do some swap outs.
Thx a lot
Great vid
06:12 "Opie's chain..." is filthy!
on old bikes, say 2000's, i always look if the rear derailleur is still straight. If it isnt, it might mean the tab its attached to is bent. very hard to bend back. Also very hard or even impossible to calibrate all gears. I own a 1999's Cannondale R300 for 4 years now, and bought a couple of old bikes with my broke student friends. They are still happy with them! Though at tours, theres never a more "mickey mouse" team than ours.
Great video, first Q I'd ask is has the bike been raced, and then for how long. Wouldn't fancy buying a carbon bike especially that's seen a lot of race action as the stress effect would have been huge.
Steel is real. It doesnt have those problems. Ive Been racing and riding steel for years with NO PROBLEMS!
I used to machine carbon satellite components. Ive cut up quite a few crashed frames. Because of what Ive found, Ill never buy carbon anything I cant witness being laid up.
Its very apparent. Even at the highest end , QC is non existent on stock bikes from Asia.
Buy local custom steel. That way you can inspect your builders work!! You can hold them accountable in a much more ‘personal’ manner!!
Gcn team thanks for the good work but here in Uganda we can't access your new products even second hard of them please think about it
Damnit I needed this video before I got my bike
Wan't it Simon Gerrans Vuelta bike, when he was with Orica, that had been stolen that was found for sale for 200€ in a shop in Andalucia?
Thanks we know 🤞